


Of Terrible Liars and Science Boyfriends

by celtic7irish



Series: An Assembly of Avengers [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Bucky and Steve friendship, Established Relationship, Eventual Clint/Phil, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-05
Updated: 2014-05-05
Packaged: 2018-01-22 02:17:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1572422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celtic7irish/pseuds/celtic7irish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony is annoying and flirty. Bruce is having none of it. Steve is confused. Clint and Natasha are staying out of it.  Mostly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Steve was sitting in front of the large window again, a sketchpad clutched tightly in his hands, but otherwise forgotten as he stared blankly out at the New York skyline. Tony paused as he walked into the room and saw the other man, his eyes narrowing in irritation. Seriously, he had had about enough of this crap.

 

“Agh!” he griped. “Quit it already, would you? Moping doesn’t suit you, Capsicle. It’s not like he’s dead or anything. He just needed some time to get his head on straight, so what’re you doing, staring out the window like a lovesick puppy? I mean, seriously,” he grumbled.

 

“You can’t talk,” Clint pointed out, and Tony swung his head around, finally locating the archer, who was perched on top of one of his bookshelves. Damn the man and his penchant for high places, anyhow. “I heard you sulked for _days_ last time your science boyfriend skipped town,” he added, grinning.

 

Tony scowled up at him. “I did not sulk!” he protested vehemently, choosing to ignore the comment about science boyfriends. “And besides, it’s not like Bruce told me he was leaving!” he added. “He just ran off, and given his track record, I figured he wasn’t coming back.”

 

Bruce had been curled up in an armchair, reading, his glasses perched on the edge of his nose, his curls loose and framing his face. He had actually been the reason Tony had come into this room in the first place. Now he looked up and gave Tony a disapproving stare. “I told you where I was going, and that I’d be back,” he chastised the inventor. “You didn’t listen.”

 

Tony grimaced apologetically at him. Bruce probably had told him – in fact, JARVIS had confirmed it – but he had been running on nearly 68 hours of no sleep, existing solely on coffee and willpower by that point. He hadn’t been paying attention to a whole lot, so when he finally collapsed in the lab, then woke up to find Bruce had left the Tower, he might have panicked. Just a tiny bit.

 

Tony gave Bruce a look that most definitely _wasn’t_ a pout, then sighed. “Look, Cap, he’ll be back. If nothing else, he’ll come back to have that arm of his repaired.” Steve didn’t move, and Tony couldn’t tell if the man was deliberately ignoring him, or if he was just so spaced out that he didn’t even realize he was being spoken to. Either way, it was irritating.

 

With a muttered comment about super soldiers and not-so-super hearing, Tony gave up and turned back to Bruce, who hadn’t gone back to his book yet, but was peering over his glasses at Tony, one eyebrow raised and a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. He knew what Tony wanted, but he was going to make him say it, apparently. Bruce must be in a playful mood today, which was at least better than those days when he was far too serious for his own good. And since Clint had given him a perfect opening earlier, he figured he’d take advantage of it.

 

Sauntering casually over to Bruce, who just looked at him with amused curiosity, but didn’t move to get up, Tony wrapped his arms around the other man’s shoulders and climbed onto the chair with him, all but straddling the physicist’s lap. “Brucie,” he purred seductively, batting his eyelashes at the rumpled man under him, “I’ve got something special that you’re really going to want to see.” His lips curled up into a wicked grin as Clint groaned dramatically from behind him.

 

“Dammit, Stark! Go get a room, would you?” he complained. Bruce dropped his eyes to somewhere around Tony’s stomach, that small smile still tugging at his lips.

 

Tony just dropped himself completely into Bruce’s lap, earning a started squeak and blush from the other man, then turned his head to smirk at the archer. “The entire Tower is mine,” he pointed out. “All the rooms are mine. Therefore, I have gotten a room. It’s not my fault that you happen to be in it, too,” he said logically.

 

“What are you doing?!” Oh, yeah. Tony had forgotten about the super soldier, who was now staring at him and Bruce with an expression caught somewhere between horror and curiosity, mixed with a hint of embarrassment at being caught staring.

 

Tony grinned. “I’m just stealing Brucie here away to go do science,” he said, but his tone made it clear that _science_ hadn’t been the word he’d been planning to use.

 

“Tony!” Bruce groaned, his cheeks reddening with mortification as he lifted his arms and pushed Tony off of him. The inventor landed on the floor with a grunt, and Bruce stood, not looking at any of them, then hurried from the room.

 

Chuckling, Tony couldn’t resist a final jab at the two men who were now staring at him in morbid fascination. “Awww…c’mon, guys. You know I’m a hedonist at heart. Besides,” he grinned wickedly, “have you ever seen the Hulk _without_ his clothes on? I mean, damn. Who wouldn’t want a piece of that?” He gave a low whistle, then sauntered out of the room after the other scientist, leaving his teammates behind him, completely speechless.

 

When he wandered into his lab five minutes later, Bruce was already bent over the Chitauri biotech, poking at it lightly with a glass rod, his eyes sharp and focused. He barely glanced up when Tony walked up behind him, grinning. “The Hulk, Tony? Really?” he asked, and his voice was amused now.

 

Tony chuckled; JARVIS had apparently played back the rest of the conversation. “Aww…it’s so sweet of you to ask,” he teased lightly. “I think I might’ve broken Captain America’s mind, though,” he admitted gleefully.

 

Bruce just snorted, giving a small shake of his head. “Unbelievable. And you should really know better than to tease Clint and Steve like that, anyhow. They’re probably planning to stage an intervention or something.”

 

“Oooh! That sounds like fun!” Tony replied, already anticipating just how that conversation would go. He wouldn’t let either of the other men escape unscathed, even if he had to embarrass himself in the process.

 

Bruce turned his back to the biotech now, leaning back against the table and crossing his arms over his chest. “Tony,” he started, and the mechanic grimaced, already knowing where this conversation was heading and not really wanting to hear it. “If you keep messing around like this, they’re really going to believe there’s something going on between us,” Bruce warned.

 

“There isn’t?” Tony asked light-heartedly, though his heart wasn’t in it. For being a fucking genius, Bruce could be utterly obtuse sometimes. “Because I’m pretty sure there could be. In fact, there definitely should be. I mean, seriously, you’re the only person in the world that’s as smart as I am. And have I mentioned how much of a fan I am of the way you turn into an enormous green monster? I’m pretty sure I’ve said that before, too, but since we were sort of trying to save the world at the time, you might not remember. But seriously, I see no downsides to this scenario.” He knew he was babbling, but Tony was terrible at talking about things like _feelings_ , so this was probably as close to an actual confession as he’d ever get.

 

Bruce just sighed, using one hand to pull his glasses off his face and pinching the bridge of his nose with the other, his eyes tightly closed. “Tony…” he warned, his voice dropping a register. He wasn’t even close to turning green, but he had started taking deep, even breaths, and Tony knew better than to keep pushing. As much as he and the Hulk got along, Tony had a great deal of respect for the guy that could break him like a twig with his pinky. Plus, he respected Bruce too much to do that to him deliberately. Testing his control was different; pushing for more than Bruce was willing to give just wasn’t acceptable. Besides, if he pushed too hard, Tony knew that Bruce would run. And this time, he might really not come back.

 

So he turned to a much safer topic instead, promising to come back to their not-relationship later, maybe when Bruce was too exhausted to think properly. “Anyhow, I wanted you to look at this. Somehow, the tech was linked directly to the Chitauri, but not through their nervous system. I had thought that they were connected to their brains, but it’s more like the pilots _were_ the brains. Or something.”

 

Bruce raised an eyebrow at him, accepting the change of topic as he went back to poking at the glider. “What? You mean like the ‘pilots’ were grown along with the gliders? As a piece of them?” he clarified.

 

Tony grinned, pleased. “That!” he said, pointing at Bruce triumphantly. “See? Genius! I think the so-called pilots were like the engine or whatever.” He wandered over to the inert biotech, his finger reaching out to brush against a rough ridge. “I heard that the Chitauri helmets that were confiscated gave off this weird electrical discharge, killed a few people who had touched them. Those guys have got some creepy shit going on,” he muttered.

 

Bruce was eyeing him intently now. “Uh, then maybe you shouldn’t be touching that with your bare hands,” he suggested carefully. Tony grinned at him, giving it one last pat in defiance before pulling his hand away. Bruce just rolled his eyes. “Thanks,” he said, the sarcasm heavy in his choice.

 

“Anything for you, Big Guy,” Tony replied playfully. Bruce just sighed, then turned towards the computer terminal. Wires crossed from the processor to the Chitauri craft, feeding data to JARVIS, who was translating it as best as he was able. It wasn’t like they had an alien baseline to interpret the information from. Tony had, at least, had the forethought to keep the connection on a separate server, completely separated from JARVIS’s primary processor unit, and also from both Stark Industries and Tony’s personal files. The last thing they needed was a bug or virus or something to wipe out their own systems.

 

They worked in silence for a while, speaking only when one of them had a question or observation regarding the alien biotech they were studying. The Chitauri craft didn’t appear to be powered by the Tesseract, unlike their weaponry, but the possibility couldn’t be ruled out, either. Personally, Tony wanted to dismantle the entire thing, to see if he could reverse-engineer it and find out what made it tick. Bruce was, as usual, far more circumspect with his own experimentation. Then again, the one time he had thrown caution to the wind, he had made a horrible, horrible mistake that had ended up with him turning into a giant green rage-powered monster, so Tony supposed that his caution was justified.

 

Eventually, Tony found his eyes wandering the lab, looking for something new to work on. This happened rather frequently, where he’d lose interest in a project just as quickly as he’d gotten excited about it in the first place. The only real exceptions these days were his Iron Man suits, and even those hadn’t captured his attention like usual lately. He wasn’t sure why that was; he just knew that he wasn’t happy about it. He couldn’t afford to let his work get sloppy, but at the same time, trying to work on anything when his mind was this distracted and jumbled was only going to get him hurt. Or killed. Or get somebody else hurt or killed.

 

He found his eyes drifting back over to Bruce, following the lines of the other man’s body, pausing to observe his expression, loving the way that Bruce’s face relaxed when he was fully focused on something. The other man’s expression belied his intent brown eyes, sharp and observant as they scrolled through the data, occasionally inputting an inquiry or running a simulation, flicking quick glances at the Chitauri glider before going back to the computer screen. He didn’t even seem to be aware that Tony was no longer interested in the alien tech.

 

He was proven wrong nearly twenty-three minutes later – not that he was counting. “What is it now, Tony?” Bruce asked, looking up in exasperation. Tony realized that Bruce had been aware of his staring the entire time, but had been ignoring, perhaps in the hope that Tony would eventually find something else to amuse himself with for a while. Tough luck.

 

“What would I have to do for you to agree to have sex with me?” he blurted out. Bruce froze, then gave him a disapproving frown, his eyes growing cold and distant, his expression closing down.

 

“Really, Tony?” he rebuked, and his tone was positively _glacial_. “Did you even bother to think before you opened your mouth? You have no idea what you’re asking. And why would you even ask in the first place?”

 

Tony winced, backtracking through the conversation. “Okay, so that might’ve sounded a little bad,” he started.

 

“It did,” Bruce confirmed, his eyes trained back on the computer screen, though Tony could tell that he wasn’t actually seeing the display.

 

Tony grimaced. “I didn’t mean it like that,” he said. “Well, actually, I did, because you’re like my soul mate or something, and I’d love it if you’d come to bed with me, but it’s not…not just that.” Oh, god, he was so bad at explaining. No wonder his relationships never worked out.

 

He huffed in frustration, running the fingers of his right hand sharply through his hair, making it stand up in ragged tufts. “You’re beautiful, and strong, and your brain is, like, the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen. Not to mention that when you’re talking science at me, I kind of just want to throw you down and have my way without you while you babble on about thermonuclear physics or gamma spectroscopy or, well, just about anything, really,” he admitted. He knew he was babbling, knew that he was probably just making things worse, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself, either, not now that he’d started. Bruce had gone from utter indifference to a cold rage by now, and Tony didn’t understand. The other man had always been tolerant of his flirtations before, and even if he was planning to turn Tony down, he would’ve done it gently. Maybe…maybe Tony had seriously misread something here.

 

He probably would have dug his own grave if JARVIS hadn’t interrupted just then. “ _Pardon the interruption, sir, but Captain Rogers has called for the Avengers to assemble immediately_.” Tony clamped his mouth shut, sending up a silent thanks to Captain Fucking America for his superb timing.

 

“JARVIS, save our work and shut down,” he ordered. Bruce just followed silently as the lights dimmed behind them, the hum of machinery dropping to a low murmur as JARVIS shut down everything except basic functions in the lab.

 

The elevator ride to the common floor was made in complete silence, with Bruce studiously avoiding Tony’s gaze. Tony didn’t try to continue the conversation, well aware of just how tense his friend was, his body as taut as Barton’s bow, just before he unleashed an arrow with deadly precision. If he pushed now, he might just find himself with a much larger problem on his hands than whatever had led to Steve’s call for them to assemble.

 

They walked into the conference room together, and if anybody noticed the tension that practically vibrated in the air between them, nobody mentioned anything. Tony gave a nod of acknowledgment to Natasha, who had just returned from whatever recon mission she had been on. The redhead nodded back, her sharp eyes glancing from him to Bruce as she frowned lightly. Tony had no doubt that somebody – probably Clint – had filled her in on Tony’s flirtatious nonsense in the living room earlier. Except, it really wasn’t nonsense. He just didn’t know how to make Bruce understand that, never mind the rest of the team.

 

It wasn’t like he didn’t know that getting together with Bruce was a bad idea. The potential for them to hurt each other was huge. Hell, Tony had created weapons designed to take down the Hulk. He didn’t make weapons anymore – at least, not for anybody other than the team – but that didn’t make the past go away. And Bruce…if he ran again, and left Tony behind, Tony wasn’t sure what he’d do. He’d thought that breaking it off with Pepper had been bad, but this was sure to be infinitely worse. He’d do better to cut his losses now, to shrug off the entire conversation as a stupid joke and go back to just being science buddies, friends, nothing more than that.

 

But that’s not what he wanted, even knowing the dangers. The problem was in getting Bruce to understand that. After all, he was Tony Stark. He had a reputation for one-night stands and short flings, for drinking and flirting and wooing anything with two legs, regardless of whether they were male or female. He was just more discreet with his male partners, so that he didn’t end up on YouTube.

 

“Good, everybody’s here,” Steve said, bringing the meeting to order with brisk efficiency. “Natasha? Tell us what you’ve got.” Tony forced himself to pay attention as Natasha laid out the information she had. There were still pockets of Hydra out there. SHIELD had been taken out, and Hydra with it, but since the many of the higher ups had known what was coming, they had walked away with new identities and effectively gone to ground. But they were still out there, and Steve had taken it upon himself to hunt down every last one of them. Natasha and he traded off, and Tony had a sneaking hunch that the Winter Soldier might be pointing them in the right direction on occasion, even if he refused to stay at the Tower with his old friend.

 

Tony really hated feeling useless, but he hated being in the dark even more. Steve and Natasha – and probably the new kid, Sam – knew something that he didn’t, and that was simply unacceptable. He made a mental note to have JARVIS do some clandestine sneaking around later. If they thought they could hide anything from him, they were sadly mistaken.

 

What Natasha apparently had was information regarding the recruitment of several members of the science community during the large tech conference that was to take place in Manhattan the next day. A conference that both Tony and Bruce had received exclusive invitations to. This wasn’t an open forum, and if you weren’t invited, you didn’t get in. Which meant that Hydra had an inside accomplice among the planning committee as well.

 

Getting in wouldn’t be a problem. No, the problem lay in deciding whether or not to let Bruce go to the conference. If it came down to a fire fight, and the Hulk came out, the potential for disaster and civilian casualties was astronomical. The Big Guy didn’t exactly take into consideration collateral damage and panicking crowds getting in the way.

 

Bruce had an unhappy, resigned frown on his mouth, but he wasn’t protesting, and Tony felt the frustration bubbling up. No, fuck this shit. “No,” he said, keeping his voice steady, reasonable. Four pairs of eyes turned to look at him, and Tony scowled. “You said they’re coming to recruit, not attack,” Tony said, staring down Natasha. She tilted her head slightly in acknowledgment; that _was_ what she had said. “Then there is no reason that Doctor Banner can’t go. If you all are so concerned, stake the damn place out, but I don’t think that the doc here is planning to turn to the dark side if a Hydra agent walks up and starts spouting the recruitment spiel at him.”

 

Steve stared at him intently for a moment, his jaw working, and Tony met his eyes with a strong glare, challenging him. A fight with Captain America was sounding more and more appealing right now. Maybe it would remove that tired, mopey expression that the super soldier was toting around. It would most certainly make Tony feel better, if nothing else.

 

Finally, Steve nodded, and Tony blinked in surprise, biting back his disappointment. The other man had given in much easier than anticipated, and Tony waited for the catch. “All right, you can both go,” Steve said, his eyes glancing between the two of them. “But Stark, Banner, you’d best keep an eye out. If it comes down to a fight, get out of there and call in the rest of us for backup. Understood?” Both men nodded, and Tony pretended not to see the puzzled, almost resentful look Bruce shot him.

 

Steve dismissed them, and Tony was gone and out the door before the rest of them finished getting to their feet. He heard Steve ask Bruce to wait, and was grateful that he’d managed to escape before the super soldier could lay into him. He didn’t feel particularly sorry for Bruce, either.

 

“JARVIS,” he ordered brusquely, striding towards his private elevator. His AI opened the doors obediently, and Tony walked in, waiting for the doors to slide closed behind him before turning around, just in case anybody had followed him out of the room. He dropped his head, his chin brushing against his chest as he closed his eyes, feeling the elevator slide smoothly upwards.

 

Moments later, he was wandering through his penthouse suite, his hands reaching out and idly brushing against furniture as his thoughts flew in every direction. Bruce was mad at him; that much was obvious. The question was: why? Bruce had always been tolerant of his flirting, even when he was the recipient of lame pickup lines and random love taps with an electric prod. But something Tony had said had obviously set the other man off. The problem was figuring out what he had said, and why it had offended the other man so badly.

 

He slowly dissected the conversation – well, it was more of a soliloquy than anything resembling dialogue – trying to determine when, exactly, Bruce had started to close himself off. HE huffed in frustration when he couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment things had started to go to hell.

 

Sprawling across the couch, Tony spoke to his AI. “J, replay the conversation in the lab between myself and Bruce. The one right before Captain Stick-in-the-mud interrupted,” he ordered.

 

 _“Of course, sir,”_ JARVIS replied agreeably, and the lights dimmed as the television screen flickered to life. Everything seemed to go fine, until Tony had mentioned sex. Then Bruce had shut down, completely. Tony watched his expression intently, trying to figure out what it was that Bruce _wasn’t_ saying. “Really, Tony?” Did you even bother to think before you opened your mouth? You have no idea what you’re asking. And why would you even ask in the first place?”

 

Tony frowned. “Pause it, J,” he muttered absently, and the image froze. Tony tipped his head back, but he couldn’t figure out what the problem was. Interpersonal relationships were not exactly a part of his skill set. That’s what people like Pepper were for.

 

Speaking of Pepper, she’d probably know exactly what he’d done wrong if he explained. He debated calling her for about three seconds, before deciding that he wasn’t going to bother her with his screw-ups. Well, not this one, at least. Besides, if he couldn’t figure it out for himself, then how was he supposed to fix it? He could apologize, but Pepper had scolded him more than once for apologizing without actually knowing what he was apologizing for. It was like he was apologizing because he felt he should, not because he believed he’d done anything wrong.

 

Of course, Tony didn’t think he’d done anything wrong this time. He’d been flirting with Bruce ever since the man had first opened his mouth aboard the Helicarrier. Bruce had never before taken it personally, so why was it any different now?

 

Tony growled in frustration, then stood abruptly from the couch and stalked over to his bar, pouring himself a glass of scotch and tossing it back, feeling the comforting burn as he swallowed. He poured himself a second glass, then eyed the bottle. It was tempting, but he knew that if he drank the damn thing, he’d be miserable at the conference tomorrow. And there was no way he’d risk Bruce because he wasn’t at the top of his game, no matter how upset the other man was at him.

 

Bypassing the couch this time, Tony wandered outside onto the gantry, drink in his hand. JARVIS was silent, and Tony just stood there, staring out at the city, the cool air raising goosebumps on his arms as he sipped at his drink, letting his mind wander.

 

Soft footsteps sounded from behind him, but Tony didn’t bother to turn around. “My turn for a lecture now?” he asked Steve moodily. He went to take another sip of his scotch, realized the glass was empty, and turned around, striding past the other man and inside, heading for the bar.

 

Before he got more than two feet inside the building, a large hand was wrapping around his bicep, keeping from going any further. Tony turned his head to glare up at the super soldier, his lip curling up into a sneer. “What, Capsicle? Afraid I’m going to compromise the mission?” He didn’t even bother to try and hide the bitterness in his tone.

 

“No,” Rogers said firmly, “I’m afraid that you’re going to end up hurting yourself.” Tony turned his face away, refusing to look the other man in the eye. Steve didn’t use his grip to turn him around, but he didn’t let go, either. “Tony…” he started, but the genius just pulled away from him with a sharp jerk. Steve let go, and Tony stumbled for about two steps before regaining his balance. But he didn’t move any closer to the bar.

 

There was an exasperated sigh behind him, but Steve’s voice was patient when he spoke. “Look, I don’t know what happened between you and Bruce, but you need to find a way to fix it. You’re both important members of this team, and the last thing I want is for you to self-destruct or him to disappear. You care for him, a lot, even I can see that much.”

 

Tony scowled. “Yeah, well, it’s not like it matters anyhow. He obviously doesn’t like me the same way,” he sighed, suddenly exhausted. He didn’t want to talk about this. Not now, and preferably not ever.

 

“Then perhaps you should tone down with the flirting a bit, Tony,” Steve retorted. “You’ve got a good thing going with Miss Potts, and trying to seduce Bruce as well is just going to get everybody hurt.”

 

Tony felt his breath catch in his throat. “Pepper?” he asked, a light dawning.

 

He heard the exasperated huff and whirled around, catching sight of Steve’s disapproving frown. “Yeah, Tony, Pepper. She’s your girlfriend.” And maybe he caught something in Tony’s expression, because his own brows furrowed in confusion. “Isn’t she?” he asked, suddenly uncertain.

 

The laughter bubbled up his throat, choking him before they burst forth in gasps and giggles, his eyes watering. He didn’t know! None of them did! When Pepper had finally told him that she couldn’t do it anymore, be both Tony’s and Iron Man’s girlfriend, and CEO of Stark Industries, the others hadn’t yet moved into the Tower. And Tony hadn’t said anything to anybody. So what if he and Pepper showed up separately to social functions? It wasn’t like it had never happened before? And the fiery redhead still dropped by the Tower on occasion to bring him paperwork, and he had never blocked her access to his penthouse. Why would the others be suspicious?

 

No wonder Bruce had been so upset with him! He thought that Tony was trying to cheat on Pepper, or even worse, wanted to use him as a substitute – as some form of what? Sexual release when Pepper wasn’t around?

 

“I take it you two aren’t together anymore,” Steve said at last, and he sounded almost insulted.

 

Tony bit back his laughter, which sent him into a coughing fit that doubled him over. “Owww,” he moaned softly when he managed to get hold of himself, his ribs aching and his eyes still a bit crossed. Straightening up as he wiped the tears from his eyes, he sighed. “Yeah, Pep and I broke up after the Chitauri incident,” he said, shrugging. “I can’t stop being Iron Man, and she can’t be Iron Man’s scared girlfriend, never knowing if the next mission will the one I don’t come back from,” he admitted.

 

Steve’s eyes darkened with sadness at that, and Tony wondered what he was remembering. Peggy, perhaps? Tony had heard her speak of that last conversation before Steve had gone under with the Tesseract. He wondered if perhaps it was better that Pepper hadn’t picked up. Would hearing his last words have made it harder? Maybe it was just as well that she hadn’t picked up, that time.

 

“Damn, I really fucked that up,” he muttered, scrubbing a hand over his face and scratching his nails through his goatee. He really needed to get it trimmed up a bit.

 

He met Steve’s eyes again, and whatever the other man saw there apparently reassured him, because he relaxed the tension in his shoulders and nodded. “Give him a few days,” he suggested, “then fix it.” Tony got the message. Wait until after the conference was over, and then talk to Bruce. He nodded his understanding, though he vowed to work on at least getting Bruce to talk to him again during the conference itself. Even if Bruce still turned down his offer for more, Tony wanted his friend back. He really hated that Bruce was mad at him over a misunderstanding, even if that misunderstanding was Tony’s fault in the first place.

 

Steve excused himself after a firm look and a, “No more alcohol tonight, Tony. Go to bed.” Just to spite him, Tony poured himself half a glass of scotch and downed it before heading for the shower. He hadn’t done much today beyond staring at a screen and prodding at alien technology, but he felt gritty, and the hot water felt good on his tense shoulders and back.

 

When he was done, he slipped into a pair of low-slung black flannel pants and padded barefoot out to the living room, sprawling back onto the sofa in his favorite position. He couldn’t really do anything about Bruce just yet, but he had other things he could be working on. “You still up, JARVIS?” he called out to his AI.

 

 _“For you, sir? Always,”_ JARVIS answered promptly, and Tony grinned; JARVIS was giving him sass.

 

“Atta boy, J. Get some coffee started, would you? And open a new file, priority one. Title: Project Super Spy. Let’s find out just what SHIELD’s been hiding from us.”


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony tries, he really does. Pity that Bruce isn't the only one who's misunderstanding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unbeta'd, as per usual. So any mistakes are mine.

The next morning, Tony was actually awake and presentable nearly twenty minutes before they were due to leave for the conference. When the car pulled up, he slipped into the back seat, sliding all the way over to the left. Bruce, who had arrived only about two minutes earlier, slid in after him, then pressed himself up against the door, not looking at Tony. The billionaire supposed he should just be grateful that Bruce had shown up at all.

 

It was impossible for Tony to stay silent, especially with the thick tension between them, and so after about ten minutes of painful silence, he talked, just to fill up the emptiness. He didn’t ask Bruce any questions, or try to lure him into the conversation. Instead, he speculated about what other scientists might be there – he was hoping to see Dr. Jane Foster, if he was completely honest – and which ones Hydra was most interested in.

 

He cheerfully insulted the Hydra agents, and SHIELD, and the WSC. He didn’t mention that he and JARVIS had sort of snuck into some carefully concealed back doors and were currently ransacking all the data they could find, looking for anything and everything. Tony had given JARVIS some initial parameters for his search, but had left it to the AI to expand or branch off as he felt necessary. It would be several hours before JARVIS managed to even skim the surface of what had been hidden from them.

 

Bruce didn’t talk the entire ride to the convention center, but Tony was glad to see that he had at least relaxed during the trip, once he realized that Tony wasn’t asking for his input. And not once did Tony say anything that could be interpreted as flirtation. At least, he was pretty sure he hadn’t, and if he had, it hadn’t been done intentionally.

 

Bruce stayed close to him as they walked through the front doors. The lady at the check-in counter handed them each a key card and a map, explaining that the card would let them into the lecture halls, and would help the committee to determine which seminars drew the most people. Bruce took both badges from the lady with an easy smile, and handed one to Tony, who took it without thinking. He didn’t like being handed things, normally, but Bruce was an exception. Like Pepper and Rhodey, and he had known them for years before he’d accept being handed anything from them. Tony wondered if Bruce realized just how rare it was for Tony to allow such a thing within days of meeting the other man.

 

Once they got past the registration area, Bruce moved over against the wall to peruse the map and schedule, pulling a pen out from somewhere and circling various forums and demonstrations. Tony was tempted to sidle up next to him and see what had caught his eyes, but instead, he just looked at his own schedule. There were only a few exhibitions he was actually interested in, but two names in particular caught his eye, and he smiled. He had hoped to see Jane Foster, of course, given how much Thor talked about her. Plus, her work in astrophysics was unparalleled. Then again, being Thor’s sweetheart, she had knowledge of the interdimensional gateway known as the Bifrost that no other person on Earth had.

 

His eyes tracked the other name, and he realized that he’d be able to attend both lectures, one before lunch, and the other afterwards. That was good, because he really, really wanted to meet the only woman that Bruce had ever spoken of. It was obvious that Bruce had loved Betty Ross, even if her father was a world-class asshole, and Tony couldn’t help the small surge of jealousy he felt at the thought that Bruce might still, after all this time, feel something for the other physicist.

 

So, taking an educated guess, Tony looked over at Bruce. “There are a few exhibits I want to see regarding some new neuro-prosthetic technology, but I’ll meet up with you later. At least, I’m guessing you plan to see Dr. Foster’s seminar later,” he smiled easily, keeping his tone even and non-threatening. Bruce looked at him for a moment, and then nodded, and Tony smiled more widely. “Great!” he exclaimed, then stepped in a bit closer, casually ignoring the way that Bruce tensed at his proximity.

 

“Keep an eye out for Hydra. If you see them, let me know. I’ll do the same, okay?” He assumed that Bruce had been given the same file as he had last night, one with names and pictures where available, as well as a list of potential targets. Because of the way the lectures were set up, the two of them would never be able to keep an eye on all of the presenters, but certain ones were prioritized. Namely, Jane Foster and Betty Ross. Tony didn’t even have to ask if Bruce would be at that particular lecture, it was a given.

 

After checking that Bruce had his StarkPhone on him, Tony gave him a small wave and sauntered off, quickly losing himself in the throng of people, his eyes roaming casually over the crowded floor. He was stopped a few times on his way to the first demonstration, but none of the people who stopped him were Hydra agents. Just geeks and nerds who wanted to talk to Tony Stark. Or Iron Man. In this place, it could be either one.

 

Tony did his best not to blow anybody off, remembering Aldrich Killian with a grimace. The last thing he needed was for a jilted scientist to create a Laser Beam of Doom or something equally stupid that he’d have to take care of later.

 

The neuro-prosthetic demonstration was actually pretty decent, and Tony made a mental note to himself to have his recruitment team see if any of their employees might be a good match for Stark Industries R&D. The artificial intelligence demonstration, however, was a complete and utter catastrophe. Tony could – and did – build better AIs than that when he was fourteen.

 

So instead, he wandered around the gallery, where those who had demonstrations, but no lectures, were stationed, stopping occasionally to prod at something and ask questions to the people standing around, watching over their exhibits and chatting with the groups next to them. Once or twice, he caught sight of Bruce, noticing that the man kept himself as small and unnoticeable as possible. You would think that would be difficult, but Bruce had always had a knack for blending in, no matter where he was, and this time was no different. He was just another nerd surrounded by other nerds.

 

Tony frowned, taking stock of the area around them. For a building full of scientists, you would think that evil Hydra agents would stand out like a sore thumb, proclaiming their presence. But nobody really looked out of place here, and Tony was starting to get a bad feeling.

 

Giving up on the rest of the lectures, Tony decided to see if he couldn’t manage to find Doctors Foster and Ross before their respective seminars. He wanted to know if Jane knew how to get in touch with Thor, and he needed to let Betty know that Bruce was here. Knowing what little he did of her, she was probably hoping, but not expecting the other man to be here. Bruce had been on the run for years; why should being one of the Avengers change that?

 

Finding the two ladies was surprisingly easy, since they were together, chatting easily about Jane’s work in astrophysics, and Betty’s work at Culver, where she was a professor. “Hello, ladies,” Tony said cheerfully, sliding up to them. “Do you mind if I sit here?” Both women looked up at him, annoyed, but then blinked when they realized just who they were staring at.

 

“Tony Stark,” Jane stated. Tony just bowed in acknowledgment, and she gave a wry twist of her lips. “By all means,” she invited, and Tony glanced at Betty, who nodded, before pulling out a chair and seating himself.

 

He smiled, offering his hand to each of them in turn. “Dr. Ross, Dr. Foster,” he greeted. “I must admit, I was quite pleased to see both your names on the schedule for today. I plan to attend both lectures. So does Doctor Banner, I believe,” he added. He noticed Betty stiffening at the mention of Bruce, and he offered her a genuine smile. “Yeah, he’s here. And I didn’t even have to drag him,” he added cheerfully. Betty just looked at him like he was crazy.

 

Jane was looking between the two of them. “Umm…should I give you two a few moments?” she offered. Betty just shook her head, throwing Jane a desperate look, and the redhead sat back down from where she had partially risen from her seat. “Okay,” she agreed, glancing sideways at Tony, who just shrugged.

 

“As interested as I am in your seminars, I have ulterior motives for talking to you today,” he admitted. Neither woman seemed particularly surprised, and Tony’s impression of them both went up a notch. “Dr. Foster, do you have a way to get messages to Asgard?” he asked next.

 

“Jane,” the redhead offered. Then, “No, I’m sorry. Thor usually just shouts for Heimdall,” she shrugged. Tony filed that away for later. He really needed to brush up on his Norse mythology.

 

He sighed. “Well, it was worth a shot, I suppose,” he shrugged, then turned to the other lady. “Dr. Ross, I’m sorry to spring this on you, but I wanted to let you know that Bruce was here before he showed up at your seminar. I don’t know if he was planning to find you beforehand or not, but I figured you might appreciate a heads up.”

 

The lady smiled at him. “Call me Betty, please,” she murmured. “Dr. Ross reminds me too much of my father.” She paled as soon as she said it, but Tony just shook his head.

 

“It’s fine, Betty,” he murmured. “Besides, if anybody here can throw stones, it most certainly isn’t me.” He watched as Betty put the pieces together, saw her face pale and her body tense, her hands clenching into fists on the table. He was expecting to be slapped, and so was understandably startled when Betty grabbed him and pulled him into a quick hug.

 

When she pulled back a moment later, she was blushing, her eyes trained on the table. “I know what you did,” she admitted. “I also know that you didn’t have the whole story, and that Bruce has forgiven you for whatever small part you played in my father’s power games. If he can forgive you, then I can, too.”

 

Tony smiled bitterly; so Bruce could forgive him for creating the weapons that Ross had used against him and the Hulk, but he couldn’t forgive him for the imagined slight of trying to cheat on Pepper? That sounded about right.

 

He pushed away from the table, nodding at the two ladies. “I believe I’ve taken up enough of your time,” he murmured. “I shall leave you ladies to your conversation and be on my way. I do hope you’re enjoying yourselves.” With that, he excused himself and left the table, back on alert as he moved across the large open space.

 

The remainder of the afternoon passed much in the same way, with Tony and Bruce both attending separate seminars, and avoiding each other in the two where they were together – Dr. Foster’s and Dr. Ross’s, of course. Tony noticed that Bruce tried to stay hidden in a shadowy corner during Betty’s session, but since the woman already knew he was there, she found him immediately after the lecture and pulled him away from the crowd. Tony smiled bitterly at that, realizing that despite everything that had happened, they still cared deeply for each other.

 

Jane had caught up to him later, as he was wandering aimlessly outside in the gardens, his thoughts taking no particular direction. She had promised to have Thor contact them the next time he was on Earth. Tony had just laughed and told her not to worry about it. He was more interested in finding a way to communicate directly with Asgard. The idea obviously wasn’t a new one to Jane, but it seemed it was no less intriguing now than it had been before. He was sure that if anybody could figure it out, it would be her.

 

He was just starting to actually believe that Hydra wasn’t up to anything when he caught a flash of dark hair and a metal arm, just before he was tackled and thrown to the ground, his yell muffled by the sudden blast that shook the entire area. The heat rolled over Tony, and he stared up at the bright blue eyes of the Winter Soldier.

 

“Ah, thanks,” he managed to choke out. The soldier just ignored him, leaping to his feet and taking off running. Tony activated his Iron Man armor and followed him, knowing that the armor would catch up. People were pouring outside from the conference, and Tony looked around frantically. Dr. Foster stopped as she passed him, and he asked her, “Have you seen Bruce or Betty?”

 

She shook her head, her eyes worried, and Tony nodded. “Thanks. I’ll find them. Go with everybody else,” he ordered. Jane looked like she wanted to protest, but just then, the Iron Man armor arrived, snapping around Tony’s body. “Hurry up!” he snapped, just before the faceplate came down. “I need you to be safe.” This time, Jane just nodded, then turned around, heading for the crowd of people. If she was smart, she’d lose herself in that crowd, just in case Hydra was actually targeting her.

 

With a push of his repulsors, Tony shot into the building, above the screaming, panicking people. His HUD lit up with heat signatures, and he winced as another blast rocked the building, displays tumbling from their stands, alarms blaring. Where the hell was Banner?

 

There was a loud roar, and Tony contorted his body, jerking the suit to a halt right before he plowed into Hulk, who roared an angry greeting at him. In his large hands was Betty, unconscious. She didn’t appear to be bleeding, so Tony took that as a good sign. “Hey, buddy, let’s get out of here, okay?” he suggested. “We need to get Betty somewhere safe.”

 

Hulk had narrowed his eyes at him when he started talking, but now he looked down at the girl cradled gently in hands that could crush her easily. “Protect Betty,” he confirmed resolutely, his tone fiercely protective and filled with affection. It made Tony’s heart ache to hear it.

 

Tony was glad that the mask hid his expression, because he wasn’t entirely sure what he looked like right now. “Yeah, that’s right, Big Guy. Hulk needs to protect Betty. So you’d better get out of here, huh?” Hulk didn’t need any more prompting, and with a roar that shattered the glass window at the end of the hallway, he was out of the building. Tony figured he’d probably climb up to the roof and leap from there, taking Bruce’s lover far away from this place, away from danger.

 

Tony wasn’t really surprised when there was another blast, this one hitting the building directly. A quick scan confirmed that there wasn’t anybody left in the building. He flew out the same window that Hulk had so kindly shattered for him, heading for the crowd of people, who were staring up at him. _“Sir, I must alert you that there are incoming missiles,”_ JARVIS spoke into his ear, and Tony swore, twisting around to see the missiles heading straight for him. And he was right over top of the crowd of onlookers. Shit.

 

“JARVIS, are those thing set to follow me?” he demanded. The AI answered in the affirmative, and Tony smiled grimly. “Good, let’s keep it that way.” With that, he took off, heading straight up. The missiles curved to follow him. “Any other missiles heading for those people?” he asked, pushing the suit as fast as it would go.

 

 _“Negative, sir,”_ JARVIS replied. _“I have taken the liberty of locating the source of the missiles. Would you like me to shut them down, sir?”_ the AI asked.

 

Tony gave an exasperated growl. “Yes, JARVIS. I would like you to shut them down. What do you think?” he snapped. JARVIS didn’t reply, but it was just as well. The HUD was blaring at him, the proximity alarms shrieking as red flashed across the screen. “Cut the repulsors!” he ordered, and they cut out abruptly. Tony hung suspended for just a moment before gravity pulled him back down. “Let’s go!” he said next, now facing towards the ground. He shot past two of the missiles, and they crashed into each other as they turned to follow him.

 

The next one was met with the blast of a repulsor beam, Tony twisting his body to the side, feeling the vibrations deep in his bones as it roared past him. That one exploded as well, leaving three more training him. Tony snarled, then banked sharply, but the missiles followed him, and he swore. He was out of time.

 

He brought his arms up again, but they hit him before he could fire the repulsors again. The impact crippled his suit as it caved under the strikes. Heat washed over him, and Tony wondered if he was going to die.   The HUD gave one last warning flicker before it died, and he was plummeting towards the earth. “JARVIS?” he called frantically, unable to see as the ground rushed up to meet him. He got no reply. His suit was nothing more than a dead weight, pulling him down even faster. But he dare not leave it, or he really would be dead.

 

He could hear screaming as he got closer, and realized that a lot of people were about to witness Iron Man going splat on the pavement. Before that happened, though, he heard a familiar roar, and his body was plucked out of mid-air. He gasped as the breath was knocked from his lungs, aware that he was still moving, even if he couldn’t see where he was going.

 

Less than a minute later, he was dropped unceremoniously onto a hard surface, and he heard the Hulk growling above him. “Metal Man okay?” Hulk asked, one large finger poking Iron Man’s chest.

 

Tony grimaced, trying to catch his breath. “Yeah, Big Guy. Metal Man’s just peachy. Thanks for the save,” he muttered, his arms flopping uselessly to his sides. “I don’t suppose you can get me out of this piece of junk, can you?” he asked hopefully.

 

There was a moment of silence, and then an impatient huff. “Hulk break Metal Man,” he said at last. “Metal Man needs puny Bruce.” A moment later, Tony felt smaller, human hands reaching for the manual released on his suit. The helmet came off first, and Tony just blinked into the overcast sky. IT looked like it might rain.

 

Bruce tugged his suit off of him wordlessly, and Tony rolled over, sitting up and slipping his jacket and shirt off. He passed the shirt to Bruce, then slipped his coat back on over his bare skin. He handed Bruce his tie as well, and the other man stared at it blankly for a moment. “I figured you could use it as a belt,” Tony suggested quietly.

 

Bruce startled a bit, then flushed, but reached for the tie, using it to fasten his pants around his waist. Tony supposed the other man was probably just grateful that he hadn’t lost his pants altogether in the skirmish.

 

The two men sat in an awkward silence for several minutes, before Tony finally spoke. “Is Dr. Ross all right?” he asked. Bruce nodded, but didn’t offer any further explanation, so Tony let it drop. Instead, he pressed his hands against the roof behind him and reclined backwards, staring up at the sky. “I’m sorry,” he offered at last.

 

He felt Bruce look at him curiously, but he didn’t look down. “I…Pepper and I broke up nearly four months ago, after the Chitauri incident,” he admitted. He felt, more than heard, Bruce catch his breath. “It was hard,” he admitted. “So I did what I normally do, drowned myself in work and alcohol until I was able to distance myself from it enough to be useful. We’re still friends, but she deserves somebody better, somebody who can give her the support and stability she needs. I can’t do that, can’t give her promises of forever, of a normal life. I can’t give her what she deserves.”

 

He sighed, closing his eyes and laying back, folding his hands behind his head. He didn’t want to see Bruce’s expression, or he’d never be able to say it. “When I asked you…what I asked you, in the lab,” he started, “I wasn’t trying to hurt you. I hadn’t realized that none of you knew about me and Pepper. And I hadn’t realized that you and Betty still loved each other, or I never would have suggested it.” There. He’d said it, though it had felt like he was swallowing broken glass to admit it. The ball was in Bruce’s court now.

 

The silence stretched out, and Tony kept his eyes closed, not wanting to see Bruce’s expression. What he really wanted to do was to curl up in a ball somewhere and cry, but he was too proud to do that here, in the open, lying next to his best friend. He was a Stark, after all, and Stark’s didn’t show weakness to anybody.

 

“Betty’s married,” Bruce said at last, and Tony’s eyes opened in surprise. He twisted his body to prop himself up one arm, his eyes focused on Bruce’s profile. The other man had his arms wrapped around his legs, his chin resting on his knees as he stared somewhere into the distance. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Tony realized that they should probably contact the other Avengers, but that wasn’t important right now. Besides, the team had probably already been alerted to the attack by JARVIS, so Tony was content to just wait it out. They’d be located eventually.

 

Right now, though, this was more important. “I’m sorry,” Tony said awkwardly, not really sure what was appropriate when the one you were quickly falling in love with admitted that the person that _they_ loved was married to somebody else.

 

Bruce’s lips flickered up into a sad smile as he shook his head. “I wasn’t any good for her,” he said with a sigh. “In that way, I suppose we’re the same. I couldn’t promise her anything, either, and with her father – ” he trailed off, but Tony understood. General Ross was still a threat to Bruce, and would continue to be a threat. It was better not to tempt him by dating his daughter. Again.

 

Bruce was rubbing his forehead like he had a headache, and Tony blinked. “Oh. Forgot about them,” he muttered, sitting up and reaching for his battered suit. Fumbling around in the left leg, he released a hidden slot and pulled out an undamaged pair of glasses, holding them out to Bruce, who stared at them in shock. Tony waggled them at the other man, and Bruce blinked and reached for them, slipping them on with a sigh of relief. Tony smiled happily. More than pants, Bruce seemed to need his glasses after a transformation into the Hulk, and since Tony was usually the one who stuck with the Hulk, it had seemed like a good idea. Barton also had a slot in his quiver for a pair of glasses, in case Tony wasn’t able to get to Bruce first.

 

Bruce mumbled his thanks before falling silent again, carefully not looking at Tony. But the genius realized that he wasn’t angry anymore. At least, not angry with Tony. “What’s wrong?” he asked bluntly, having never been a fan of dancing around a problem, once he figured out what the problem actually was.

 

Brown eyes flickered in his direction before returning to stare down at the rooftop. “When you…offered…down in the lab,” he started, “I wanted to say ‘yes’, even though I knew – believed – that you were still with Pepper.”

 

Tony felt himself straighten up, staring at Bruce with wide eyes. “Wait, so you…wanted to say yes?” he blurted out, swearing mentally as he clamped his mouth shut with a sharp click of teeth. _Fuck, way to ruin things, Stark,_ he thought darkly.

 

But Bruce chuckled. This time, when he met Tony’s eyes, he held them, his eyes warm and affectionate. “Yes, Tony, I wanted to say yes. And I hated myself for that.”

 

Tony groaned, flopping back down so that his head landed in Bruce’s lap. The startled scientist twitched, but didn’t dump him onto the ground, and Tony grinned up at him. “So, let me get this straight. You were mad at yourself for wanting to have sex with me, but you thought I was still with Pepper, which would have meant I would be effectively cheating on her. But I thought it was me you were mad at, and realized that I had never told anybody about Pepper, which made the whole mess my fault in the first place. So I was going to try and give you some space, see if I couldn’t salvage something out of that botched attempt at seduction, only to find out just now that if I were to do that, we’d both probably regret it for the rest of our lives. Am I on track so far?” he asked.

 

Bruce huffed an exasperated laugh as he agreed, “More or less.”

 

Tony grinned widely. “Sooooo,” he drew the word out, “if I were to, say, ask you know if you’d be my boyfriend, now that all the misunderstandings are out of the way, you would say…?” he trailed off, his eyes sparkling with humor as he teased the man above him.

 

Another twitch of lips, and then Bruce leaned down, and oh, that was so much better. Bruce’s lips were soft, but dry, and he was a clumsy kisser – or maybe it was just the angle – but for Tony, it was the most awesome thing ever. One arm reached up, catching hold of Bruce’s curls and just resting there, not pushing or pulling, just enjoying the feeling of the other man under his touch.

 

Bruce’s tongue flickered out, brushing against his lips, and then the other man was pulling back, his face flushed. “Yes,” he said simply.

 

Tony grinned, crowing triumphantly in his head, then reached up with both hands to pull the other man back down. But before he could do more than open his mouth, he heard the sound of somebody climbing up the emergency stairs. Bruce jerked back, shifting away from Tony and dumping him unceremoniously to the ground. “Ouch,” Tony grumbled in complaint, glaring up at the interruption.

 

Bruce was already standing, and Tony sighed, glaring at Clint as he scrambled over the side, grinning at them unapologetically. “I heard you really fucked that up, Stark,” he said cheerfully.

 

Tony scowled. “How, exactly, is this my fault?” he demanded. “The intel sucked. Hydra wasn’t recruiting, they were attacking. What the hell? Just wait until I get hold of that damn Soldier,” he grumbled. Then again, that would probably be counterproductive to his desire to keep living so he could explore this new thing with Bruce. Same with Natasha.

 

Clint smirked at them. “The plans got changed when Iron Man arrived at the scene,” he said, not even bothering to hide his amusement. “It’s pretty awesome how many people want you dead,” he added. Tony just flipped him off.

 

“If you’re just going to mouth off, Barton, at least prove useful,” he grumbled. “Help me get my suit out of here.” It wasn’t worth much more than scrap at this point, but there was no way in hell he was leaving any of his Iron Man tech out in the open, where anybody could pick it up.

 

Clint snorted. “Right, like I can lug that heavy-ass thing down from here. This is gonna make so much noise.” Tony shrugged, grabbing the arm and torso and dragging them across the rooftop. Peering over the edge, he saw Steve looking up at them, and he waved. Then he tossed the armor over the edge, turning back with a grin as he heard the muffled shouts from below. Clint cackled like a madman, more than happy to join in on the fun, and Bruce just watched them with tired eyes from his reclaimed seat on the roof.

 

After the Iron Man suit had been loaded into the waiting van, Tony went back for Bruce. “Ready to go,” he murmured. The other man looked like he was half-asleep as he nodded, stumbling to his feet. Tony wrapped an arm around his waist, using the other hand to hold Bruce’s arm across his shoulders as the two of them staggered towards the roof’s edge.

 

Clint had already dropped down to the fire escape, and he held out his arms as Tony lowered Bruce carefully, then followed, landing with a muffled clang that made the entire unit creak. Tony grimaced, taking Bruce back from Clint and following him down to the ground, moving carefully.

 

Clint climbed into the back seat, and the two men followed him, slumping into seats after maneuvering around the armor. Clint was driving, which left Steve free to watch the two of them. Tony grinned cheerfully at him, and he relaxed a bit, his eyes flickering over Bruce, who had his eyes closed, pale and exhausted. “Are you all right, Doctor Banner?” Steve asked next, his voice concerned.

 

“Mmhm,” Bruce mumbled. “Just tired. Didn’t want to sleep before the fight was over.” Steve nodded his understanding, then fell silent, turning back to face forward, giving the two men relative privacy.

 

Carefully, still unsure of his welcome, Tony wrapped his arms around Bruce’s shoulders and tugged the other man towards him. Bruce didn’t protest, his head dropping to burrow into Tony’s neck, his body warm and heavy against Tony’s side. Tony dropped a kiss in Bruce’s hair, then settled back in his seat.

 

Looking up, he caught Steve’s eyes. The soldier smiled at him, and Tony smiled back, content. Then he frowned as a thought occurred to him. “Wait…how did you know where to find us?” he asked.

 

Steve chuckled softly. “Bucky dropped by the Tower,” he replied easily. “Said you were an idiot, and that it was a good thing Doctor Banner was there.” Tony grimaced; great, even the former Hydra assassin thought he was a moron. He’d need to have some strong words with that guy soon, Steve’s friend or not. If he was going to insult Tony, the least he could do was stick around for a while.

 

Clint swore abruptly, and Tony realized he was on the phone. “Are you kidding me?” he demanded, grumbling. “Dammit. You know, this would be a really awesome time to have SHIELD around,” he muttered.

 

Steve flinched at that, and Tony’s eyes narrowed. “Yeah, that would be nice,” he agreed, watching the super soldier. Steve was the best of them all, but being that good had its downsides, too. “Especially if Fury was still around.” Steve wiped his expression quickly, but Tony had seen it; the minute tightening of his jaw that meant that Steve wanted to say something, but was refraining. Tony wasn’t having it. “Is there something you want to tell us, Cap?” he asked, noticing that Clint had finished his phone call (with Natasha, most likely) and was paying attention, even as he kept his eyes on the road.

 

Steve frowned, looking down at his hands. “Natasha says I’m a bad liar,” he sighed.

 

Tony barked out a laugh, and Clint agreed whole-heartedly. “Yeah, you really are,” he said. Steve glared at them both, but they just waited. It was obvious that he wanted to tell them, but he didn’t know if he should.

 

Tony’s eyes narrowed. “You might as well just spit it out, you know. I already have my suspicions, and I set JARVIS to do some really sneaky hacking last night, so I’ll have answers soon enough. Is Nick Fury still alive?” He figured being blunt was the only way to go.

 

Steve didn’t answer, but his silence was confirmation enough, and Tony swore. Bruce startled, and Tony’s hand combed through his hair, soothing him back down. As Bruce settled, Tony looked up at Steve, who wasn’t looking at any of them. “Cap? Steve?” Tony tried, and those blue eyes turned to look at him. Steve still didn’t look happy, but it seemed like a huge weight had been lifted off of him, and Tony wondered about that. Perhaps his depression hadn’t been because of Bucky, after all. Tony knew how much Steve hated keeping secrets from the team, because he felt very much the same way. What was the point in having a team if you couldn’t confide in them, or ask for their help?

 

A low chuckle bubbled out of Tony’s throat, his mouth splitting into a wide, happy grin. So many secrets coming out. Oh, just wait until he got hold of Fury. The man wasn’t going to know what hit him. Maybe he’d blindside Hill first, since he had immediate, unrestricted access to her, as she was now the head of the Stark Industries security force.

 

Settling back, he allowed his eyes to close as the van rumbled down the street. When they got home, he’d tell everybody what he’d found, and what Steve hadn’t said. Maybe he’d even manage to drag the Winter Soldier into the meeting for a short while. After all, the other man did seem to have a vested interest in Tony’s continued existence, so he was pretty sure he could wrangle him into a single meeting. He really wanted to see the man’s face when he learned that not only had he failed the mission to kill Captain America, but he had also failed to kill Nick Fury.

 

Tony held Bruce close to his side, letting the low murmur of his friends’ voices wash over him as he mulled over the future. If nothing else, it only promised to get more interesting as they went along.

 

That suited Tony just fine. He was a futurist, after all.


End file.
